Three Days in New Orleans
Sounds like an article in
the United Airlines On-board Magazine…
July 3 to 5, 2015
July 3rd
The ride to New Orleans was
another hot and humid day. We pretty much stayed off of the Interstate and
used US 90, a few local roads and then on to I310, followed by a short section
of I10 into the French Quarter. By the time we got into New Orleans it was categorically
hot and humid – welcome to New Orleans.
Around noon-ish we made a
gas and food stop at Wilson’s Kountry Korner on Bull Run Road in Schriever, LA
– a gas station, country store and diner, with good local food. I had a fried
oyster Poboy, first Poboy for me in a very long time. It was not healthy, but
certainly good. The remainder of the ride to New Orleans was uneventful and we
even managed to miss the bad traffic.
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| Photo courtesy of the Web |
Once off Interstate 10, it
was a short ride through the French Quarter to our hotel. We stayed at the Le
Richelieu Hotel right in the heart of the French Quarter, but in a vastly quieter
section than Bourbon Street. The Le Richelieu is an old French style hotel that is very well
maintained, and the staff is friendly, engaging and professional. It is a
two-block walk to Bourbon Street, Jackson Square and the River Walk along the
Mississippi – yet, far enough from all the madness of Bourbon Street, but an
easy walk to the madness.
After checking in and
getting settled we needed water and beer – our normal post hot and humid ride
day. It was happy hour in the bar – what luck! Judith was introduced to Abita Amber - a mainstay in LA, and a damn good beer.
We struck up a conversation
with a neighborhood local, Eric, who gave us a few tips on marvelous local
places to eat, all within a couple of blocks.
Dinner was at Mona Lisa, an
Italian place as you might guess, with a full-on Mona Lisa theme. The walls
were covered with all sorts of variations on the Smiling Lady. Good food and
too much, again.
July 4th – Happy
Fourth of July
Breakfast at another
recommendation by Eric – Croissant d’or Patisserie. This old French Bakery has the
Croissants like you’d find in France.
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| Croissant d’or Patisserie |
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| Breakfast on the Courtyard |
After breakfast we did a
long walkabout through, through the French Market, along the River Walk next to
the Mississippi, to Jackson Square and then Royal and Bourbon Streets. It was
still hot and humid, but I guess that’s New Orleans in July. Therefore we
needed to re-hydrate at Pat O’Brian’s – water and a Bloody Mary.
The French Quarter is very
walk able and exceptionally colorful – both the people and the buildings. It is
abundantly entertaining.
It was time to re-hydrate
later in the afternoon and happy hour had started up again in the hotel bar. We
meet two couples from the Bay Area – Belmont and Pacifica. It was old home week
for a couple of hours.
They had a flight to catch
and we decided to go to dinner at yet one more of Eric’s joints, the Mojo Lounge, which also
turned out to be perfect.
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| Along the Mississippi |
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| Old Jax Brewery - now shops and restaraunts |
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| More NOLA color |
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| The long line up at Café du Monde |
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| Jackson Square with St. Louis Cathedral in the background |
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| Panoramic of Jackson Square |
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| General Jackson and St. Louis Cathedral |
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| Bloody Mary's at Pat O'Brian's |
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| Side entrance at Pat O'Brian's |
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| Lots of Voodoo in NOLA |
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| A young Trombone player on his way to a gig |
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| Mojo Coffee House: Picture from the Web |
The fireworks are set off from barges on the Mississippi and were scheduled
to start at 9:00 and we walked down to the River Walk to get a spot at about
8:00. It was already packed – no surprise. We found a good spot to stand for
the next hour and at exactly 9:00 the first skyrocket fired off. I should saw
two fire rockets fired off because there were two barges on the river about
half a mile apart shooting off synchronized fire works. It was a great show that
lasted a little more than 30 minutes with the customary grand finale. At that
point about 30,000 people turned around to exit the River Walk. We managed to
make it back to the Le Richelieu unscathed, had a nightcap and off to bed.
July 5th
Back to the Croissant d’or Patisserie
for breakfast – why mess with a good thing.
Then after breakfast we had another
walkabout over to the Warehouse and Arts District on the other side of Canal
Street.
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| Contrast - the bank building in the front was built in 1847. The high rise office building behind the bank was built sometime in the last 10-12 years. |
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| Civil War Museum |
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| Lee Circle (Robert E. Lee) |
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| Changing Faces in the Warehouse District |
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| Ach Scheiße! |
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| Serious Smoker |
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| Casual method to sight see |
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| More NOLA color |
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| You can't walk far without seeing an interesting balcony |
It was once again brutally
hot and humid. Once back to the hotel I took a nap for an hour and a half.
We had planned to walk about
two blocks to Maison, a Cajan Restaurant with live life Jazz when the heavens opened up
with a spectacular lighting storm. Getting to dinner was postponed for about 90 minutes.
Finally, the storm let up and we made it to the restaurant in a mild sprinkle.
The food was good - I had a second Poboy, a pulled pork Poboy this time and Judith had a scrumptious mushroom Poboy, plus the fries were great. The local Jazz players were also good.
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| Local Jazz at Maison |
Tomorrow we bid adieu to
NOLA and head to Natchez, MS.
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